Chryst will be introduced to the public at a 3pm ET press conference at the Panthers’ practice facility.

Multiple sources also confirmed that Chryst will retain his duties as offensive coordinator of Wisconsin in the Rose Bowl, with one source indicating to SbB that will entail Chryst spending “three days in Pasadena.”

Wisconsin Athletic Director Barry Alvarez played a key role in Pitt’s decision to hire Chryst, as a source close to the Pitt program told SbB that the former longtime Badgers football coach convinced longtime friend and influential Pitt booster A.C. Dellovade to champion the Chryst candidacy to other prominent Pitt donors and officials.

Chryst, who is credited for an impressive makeover of the Wisconsin offense dating to 2005, replaces Todd Graham, who coincidentally got the nod over Chryst for the Pitt job last year - before abruptly departing for Arizona State a week ago.

In a statement to Mark Berman of FOX 26 in Houston today, Arizona State Chief Operating Officer Steve Patterson said that the school was no longer pursuing current SMU football coach June Jones for its own football coaching position.

In response to Patterson’s announcement the agent of Jones, Leigh Steinberg, posted the following message on his official company blog:

“Just had one of the most bizarre endings to a set of productive discussions to bring a client to a new situation. Everything was set,few tweaks left,and the principal decision maker yanks the deal w no real explanation.”

In the aftermath of the announcements from both sides, multiple sources close to the negotiation told SbB today that the sticking point between the two parties was the $2 million buyout in Jones’ SMU contract.

Hard to reconcile Erickson’s comments with what I know to be an indisputable fact: Burfict initiated an altercation early last season with Arizona State wide receivers coach Steve Broussard in which Burfict repeatedly threatened Broussard with physical harm.

More specifically, the altercation took place during a non-contact, 11-on-11 drill at an Arizona State practice.

During a drill in which coaches forbade tackling, Burfict delivered a late, vicious hit to an ASU receiver as the receiver ran a route over the middle.

According to Associate Athletic Director Mark Brand, there was a scuffle on the field that carried over into the locker room.

ASU spokesman Brand was also quoted in ARIZONA REPUBLIC reporter Doug Haller’s story about the incident, which provided an especially troubling detail of how Burfict launched a premeditated, physical assault on a teammate he outweighed by 50 pounds:

Along with Erickson, Arizona State wide receiver Aaron Pflugrad, offensive lineman Bo Moos, linebacker Brandon Magee, kicker Alex Garoutte and safety Eddie Elder were all in attendance to take questions from the media on Saturday.

Burfict? Absent.

Why? The events inside the Arizona State locker room last Wednesday. Read more…

This week Arizona State football coach Dennis Erickson announced that freshmen football players Lee Adams and Jamil Douglas have been suspended indefinitely from the team after being arrested on suspicion of second-degree burglary.

The incident took place on Oct. 8 and according to the Arizona State Police Department report, the football players were observed on surveillance video stealing two laptop computers and video-game equipment from a dorm room.

Adams has played in one game this season while Douglas is redshirting.

I’ve located some shocking, amateur cellphone video of an Arizona State football player landing a LeGarrette Blount-like punch on a University of Arizona football player after the two teams met last Saturday.

(Video was pulled off Youtube, but animation still shows what happened)

After Alex Zendejas kicked a last-second field goal to give the Wildcats the 20-17 win over the Sun Devils, players from both teams streamed together at midfield, and that’s when it got ugly.